Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. I have noticed that this movie doesn’t really have a strong reputation but, in fact, I actually have a weak spot for the damned thing which is rather surprising because I’m not really a huge fan of such action flicks. Indeed, in my opinion, even though the whole thing was obviously rather predictable, I thought it was a spectactular and fairly believable disaster movie. Of course, after watching this, my wife pointed out ‘if they all died, how could they know how it actually all happened?’. But it didn't bother me. Furthermore, they took their time to introduce these fishermen from Gloucester and the end-result felt really convincing. Anyway, to really enjoy it, you shouldn’t really watch it expecting a tale based on the testimonies of the survivors but even so, I thought that the material was fairly well handled. Concerning George Clooney, at the time, he was still struggling to find his mojo and, if you put aside the ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ franchise, it would be in fact his last blockbuster. 6 years later, Wolfgang Petersen would try again his luck with another boat related feature with ‘Poseidon’ but it would be a financial and critical flop. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was not a masterpiece whatsoever, I thought it was a decent disaster flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. To be honest, I always had some mixed feelings about this flick. Indeed, on one hand, Jonathan Demme is a fine director and Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks provided also some solid performances. Especially for Tom Hanks, it really launched the 2nd phase of his career. Indeed, so far, Hanks was successful as a comic actor but, thanks to this movie, not only he managed to win his first Academy Award but he became overnight a really sought-after dramatic actor. Concerning the HIV issue, since it was a the first mainstream movie about the subject, it was indeed quite important. And, yet, the whole thing didn’t reallly convince me. The main issue was that this movie was just too late in my opinion. Indeed, in my opinion, they should have made it 10 years before, when the whole disease was completely misunderstood, then it would have been really ground-breaking. Basically, it just pushed a whole bunch of wide open doors, pretty much validating the prejudices of most of the viewers (’10 years before, we wouldn’t touch or speak to an AIDS patient because they were all gays and junkies and we were just ignorant but, at this point, everybody pretty  much agreed that it was all so sad’) and it got on my nerves. Still, they did get something right and it was to show how common it was at the time to be homophobic and, thankfully, we made a lot of progress during the last 20 years. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie didn't really blow me away, I have to admit that it was still a decent drama though and it is definitely worth a look.

I don't know about you but I have seen this already 100 times before. Indeed, you get a fallen genius who has to coach a band of misfits and, against all odds, towards the end, they still manage to win a big tournament of baseball/basketball/football/ballroom/whatever. So, they definitely used a very old formula and, yet, I was really touched by this picture. Indeed, they started with this old gimmick but then they added a layer, then another layer and then another one and, as a result, you didn't see the formula anymore but only a really emotional tale with some really compelling characters. It also reminded me of 'Silver Linings Playbook' except that they had removed all the glamor and made it really dark and gloomy. Anyway, I really liked the fact for example that the older brother was not just some one-dimensional villain and they gave us the opportunity to understand the motivations behind his actions. And, of course, Cliff Curtis, for once playing the lead, was really impressive and it was really nice to have a main character who didn't look like a top model but like a regular guy. To conclude, it might be a really obscure flick but I thought it was a really intense drama and it is definitely worth a look.

This is the very first movie I have shown to my daughter, I have seen it countless times when she was just 2 or 3 years old and I thought it was really time to write a review for this feature. The funny thing about this production is that, even though 'Pinocchio' and 'Fantasia' were both critically heralded, they were also some really ambitious projects that had cost Disney a lot and they didn't turn out to be some huge box-office success like 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. So, back then, they decided to come up with something smaller and cheaper and, surprisingly, it turned out to be a hit. To be honest, I think that the scope was too limited to make it one of my favorites and, with a running time of barely 60 minutes, and the fact that Timothy Q. Mouse was just a recycled version of Jiminy Cricket, it did feel a little bit cheap. And yet, this Dumbo character was really awesome. Indeed, it showed some guts to have a title character who didn’t say a word during the whole thing and there were a couple of scenes involving him and his mother that were just amazing and quite heartbreaking to behold. Also, you won't see any time soon in a Disney feature an infant getting drunk and hallucinating afterwards and a bunch of black crowns smoking some huge cigars. On top of that, they gave us their weirdest (but, in my opinion, also one of their most awesome) musical sequence with the legendary 'pink elephants on parade'. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might not be one of the best productions from Disney, it is still really charming and definitely worth a look.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but I still ended up watching the damned thing. First of all, when you have a cast composed of 5 women and the most famous one is only Jaime Pressly, you should know you are in trouble. In fact, I have to admit that it was not as bad as I expected. I have actually never played the game it was based on but, at least, contrary to the dreadful 'Street Figther', they gave us a fighting tournament which looked more like one of those games. I also liked the introduction of the characters, even though the way they were invited was rather preposterous. Finally, I read that some people were not convinced by the fighting scenes but I disagree, they were pretty decent in my opinion. So, it seems that they had all the basic ingredients right which is pretty rare for a video-game adaptation but, even so, the whole thing was still underwhelming though. Indeed, even though the ladies looked charming, the dialogues and acting were really weak and, on top of that, they did add just way too many lame sub-plots and, towards the end, the whole thing completely fell apart. Anyway, to conclude, my rating might be a little too generous here, it was still pretty weak and it's too bad because the whole thing actually had some potential.

To be honest, except for Vin Diesel, I'm not sure that anyone was really dying to see yet another sequel involving Riddick. On top of that, it seems that Vin Diesel doesn't seem to be able to bring up some new material and keeps coming back with some sequels which is pretty disappointing (indeed, from the last 8 movies he made, 6 of them were sequels!). Anyway, I have to admit that Riddick is actually a pretty cool character so I still wanted to check it out. Well, eventually, this movie gave me pretty much the same feeling as its predecessors. I mean, it was not bad, it was even visually quite appealing and they definitely managed to create an intriguing world but, at the end of the day, it is still a B feature. Indeed, the plot was just too pedestrian, in fact, they pretty much used the same concept used in the first movie. Indeed, in 'Pitch Black', some huge monsters come at night and the characters have to fight for their survival releasing Riddick to help them. Here, exactly the same thing happens, except that the beasts come out when it is raining. To conclude, I'm not sure that this sequel was really needed but it was a decent watch and I guess it is worth a look if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick. Indeed, it is a very obscure flick starring Sandra Bullock before she reached stardom but since I had this dvd for already more than 3 years, I thought it was really time to watch the damned thing. Well, that was pretty terrible, that's for sure. Basically, it is one of those terrible movies in which Bullock had a very small part but they have been re-released on dvd with her displayed prominently on the box after she reached stardom. In fact, this movie would be the last very low budget thing she would make, everything after involving her would have a rather high profile. In fact, the only main scene when she showed up was actually pretty good, except for one thing. Indeed, she got involved in one of her very few sex scenes and she actually did a fine job but how are we supposed to believe that she is actually having sex if she keeps her underwear on?!? At least, if she wore a tiny thong, that could have been doable but not with those massive panties on and it really ruined the whole thing. A part from that, you had also a decent scene with Steve Buscemi but the rest was pretty much a supposedly funny but in fact very lame version of 'Donnie Brasco' with a shoestring budget. To conclude, it was pretty bad and you should rather avoid it.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. In fact, I’m not sure which one I saw first, this movie or ‘Requiem for a Dream’. Anyway, since I’m a huge fan of Darren Aronofsky , probably one of the best directors at work nowadays, I was really eager to check this directing debut. As a matter of fact, I have noticed that this movie has received some rather mixed feedback. Indeed, either you love it or you think it is an incomprehensible mess. Personally, I do think that the whole thing tends to be a little too murky and even though it was really ambitious and often mesmerizing to behold, it was pretty obvious that it was a directing debut and it kind of lost me of a couple of times. Anyway, with this movie Aronofsky joined the selected club of directors like Christopher Nolan, David Lynch or even Kevin Smith who all had their breakthrough with a small movie made on a shoestring budget (Indeed, this movie cost only $60,000 to make, most of which was raised with contributions from the director's friends and family). To conclude, even though I don’t think it is really a masterpiece, it is still a pretty good mindf*ck and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Darren Aronofsky’s work.

To be honest, more than a decade later, it is actually rather difficult to give this movie a fair deal. Indeed, since then, not only Johnny Depp’s career has become extremely underwhelming (his last movies ‘Mortdecai’, ‘Transcendence’, ‘The Lone Ranger’ , ‘Dark Shadows’, ‘The Rum Diary’ and ‘The Tourist’ have all been some critical and commercial flops) but he has given us a terrible overdosis of Captain Jack Sparrow after no less than 4 sequels. After all this, we could almost forget that the first installment in this huge franchise was actually a really fun blockbuster. I remember it very well, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released. Back in those days, Depp was still considered a box-office poison, many wondered how the hell he ended up playing the lead in a blockbuster like this one and many thought that this project would turn out to be a massive flop. I knew better, I was convinced that, if you gave this actor the right material, he could do pretty much anything and, indeed, Depp was just really awesome playing this iconic character. To be honest, I think that the movie itself tends to be slightly overrated though. I mean, sure, it is indeed an entertaining flick but, like most of the blockbusters, it is nothing really ground-breaking. Anyway, to conclude, if you manage to forget all the recent garbage involving Johnny Depp, it is actually a fine blockbuster and it is definitely worth a look.

Of course, I have seen this movie many times when I was a kid but I still wanted to check it out again. It is usually considered as the best installment of this whole saga and, after re-watching the damned thing once again, I believe it really deserves this status. Indeed, even though it still remains a seminal piece of popcorn entertainment, this time, it was quite darker than its predecessor and towards the end, it almost became some kind of Greek tragedy. Indeed, the climax with the duel between Skywalker and Vader has become pretty much the stuff of legends, it is still thrilling after all these years and I would be really surprised if they would ever manage to top that in the upcoming sequels. Sure, 35 years later, it seems pretty cheesy to discover the truth about Luke's father but it is because it has been copied and parodied so many times afterwards and, in fact, it was terribly effective. The good stuff didn’t stop there though. Indeed, you also had the enigmatic Boba Fett whose backstory would be really messed up in the prequels and, of course, the all mighty Yoda who would become one of the most beloved characters in this franchise. To conclude, it is a childhood classic, it is terribly entertaining and it is absolutely worth a look.